Traditional video and table poker games are based on achieving the highest hand ranking possible whereby the highest hand ranking generally has the highest value. Typical wagering games, such as five card draw is well known in the gaming arts. In the game of five card draw, a player places a wager and is then dealt five cards. The player then selects any cards they wish to hold, and is then dealt replacement cards for any non-held cards. The resulting poker hand is compared to a pay table to determine if the resulting poker hand is a winning hand or a losing hand.
In traditional five card draw, the player is only able to receive one replacement for each non-held card. This limits the player's ability to receive a winning outcome and limits what the player is able to receive from the machine. As a result, players' hands are often losers and the player rarely gets a high ranking hand. Consequently traditional draw poker provides limited excitement value and does not challenge the player with determine possible winning outcomes.
One proposed solution is a game widely known as triple play poker. This game allows a player to play three hands at once. The first 5 cards are dealt face up as in a traditional game of draw poker. The player then selects which cards to hold, and those cards are automatically held in not only the first hand, but also in two additional hands shown on the screen. These held cards are maintained for the corresponding card position in each additional hand. The player then draws the additional cards and the player obtains three different draws from three different decks to fill in the discarded card locations for each of the displayed hands.
While triple play poker provides an alternative to traditional draw poker and is popular, it has lost its excitement level for many players. In addition, with triple play poker, the held cards are populated into every other displayed hand and dealt cards are only dealt into one hand and may not be used in any other hand. Although this makes it easy to understand, it greatly limits the variation, winning opportunities, and the excitement that could otherwise be achieved.
As a result, there is a need for an improved wagering game which increases win opportunities and options while increasing player excitement and interest.